Objectives
Our football club has an explicit social agenda, realized through a number of influential programs. These programs are organized in light of three main objectives:
Promoting Peaceful Coexistence Through Football
Interaction through Football normalizes interpersonal relationships and humanizes those conceptualized as "the others", bringing together people who in other contexts are separated by religion, ethnicity, politics and a host of other divisive issues. Our projects bring together boys and girls, Muslims, Christians and Jews, children from immigrant Ethiopian and Russian communities, children from facilities for troubled youth and children with disabilities. When playing together and competing with one another, they are equal and nothing differentiates between them.
Bridging the Gender Gap
As with many other sports, football is closely associated with males. This is true globally and even more so in Israel, a highly militarized and in many ways gender-segregated society – particularly in religious communities, both Jewish and Muslim. These views deter many women from participating in organized sports and discourage them from engaging in neighborhood athletic activities. Those who succeed in overcoming such obstacles often risk being labeled 'unfeminine'. Such attitudes affect the way others perceive girls and women, but, even more significantly, they also affect how they see themselves and their own possibilities. Our club aspires to break the stereotype associating football (and sports in general) with men by bringing women’s football to center stage, and giving any girl and women in Jerusalem the chance to play football in a professional supportive setting.
Creating a Climate for Diversity, Acceptance and Change
With an eye to impacting on today's society as well as tomorrow's, the club has embarked on a targeted and coordinated effort to identify potential youth at risk and provide them with a varied and extensive selection of programs that could help deter destructive behavior. Instead of returning to empty houses or roaming the streets, these children are given a chance to advance and flourish in a structured and supportive environment with volunteers who help them with school work, building self-esteem and developing other important skills. Along with developing a sense of teamwork and leadership, the children are taught to respect one another and resolve conflicts through patience and dialogue.
